Lilly Taps Contractors to Revive Pipeline

By

Jonathan D. Rockoff

Updated Jan. 5, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET

Eli Lilly & Co., like many other pharmaceutical companies, is seeking to make its drug-development efforts more productive as it copes with thin new-product pipelines. Its approach: hiring outside contractors to run tests on its drug candidates.

Pharmaceutical companies have traditionally kept a tight lid on drugs under development, conducting key work in-house. But early this year, the Indianapolis drug maker will decide whether to move a promising molecule to treat rheumatoid arthritis into late-stage testing, based...